Friday, September 9, 2016

NEW BEGINNINGS

In the
beginning the earth was without form and void; and then I was born. According to Schrodinger’s Cat analogy the
earth is here because I can observe it, and when I am gone the earth will no
longer exist: sorry folks.

Solzhenitsyn,
one of my favorite authors, wrote in the Gulag…
“One and the same human being is, at various ages, under various
circumstances, a totally different human being.”

I believe
this is true for some people; it is certainly true in my life. The opportunities to begin again come
throughout our life, though less so as we age, and we can grab the path less
traveled or continue on the safe road to conformity.

I am a
veteran; but I actually feel sorry for the older veterans I see wearing their
VFW/American Legion hats or ball caps that proclaim their military
service. It is like saying ‘I was in
the military for two/ four/ twenty years and that is all I have to distinguish
myself. I have to wrap myself in the
flag and in patriotism to pander for my moment of fame, because other than that
I have never moved on, I have never changed.

We all are a
compilation of our past experiences – they imprint to a large extent who we are;
but to live in our past experiences, and never to have moved on, is somehow
pitiful.

I think
about some of my past experiences because they were exciting points or
highlights that I can enjoy reflecting on; but they are not me – not who I am
today.

These
thoughts came from watching the Commander and Chief forum. The new vets are having to deal with dramatic
change, and hopefully they will be able to adjust and move on. But the old vets didn’t seem like they were there
for support, but for recognition – and again, that’s kind of pitiful.

Oh yeah, the whole veteran thing...I too am a vet, and from the same era as you. But, I was very different person then. During those years, I was eaten up with patriotism and false bravado...to the extreme of going off to OCS, gung-ho dumb fuck that I was (the result of way too many John Wayne movies in my young life, I suspect). I'm not ashamed of my "call to duty", but I don't dwell on it either.

I once went with a friend to an American Legion post he was a member of. I'm pretty sure he had in mind to get me to join. What I saw was, at that time middle age guys, sitting around rehashing their exploits as soldiers in the good ol' days. The thing that I find strange is, I clearly recall many, many, many guys bitching about how fucked up the army was at the time they were in it...and they couldn't wait to be rid of it. So now they fucking love and miss it? You're right...they're stuck in the past, as you say, this was the highlight of their lives...and it apexed at 19, 20, 21 years old! Sad indeed. Many of these guys are the "Make Amurica Great Again" bunh, I think.

As to the other parts of my life...my conclusion, I have lived several different lives and been different people. When people ask me, what did you do before you retired, I answer with, what decade are you talking about?

I see jadedj went to Oklahoma Cook School. Unlike him I was never gungho, hunglo or any of that shit. The only reason I served was to avoid the draft. If I knew then what I know now, I'd be speaking Canadian, eh!!

On your thing about wearing caps with the military stuff. I have an older cousin that wears a cap that says WWII Vet. People are always coming up to him and saying, "Thank you for your service." Don't know if that's the reason why he wears it or not.

and then there are WWII vets like my daddy who never joined VFW or wore a jacket proclaiming his service ...or a cap...when I asked him he said there was nothing heroic about what we did..doing your duty is not heroic..and no one else cares anyhow.. he passed in 1982 before the gungo ho parade began. I'm pretty sure it would have pissed him off..

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